Beck’s carnival act an embarrassment; even by Fox News standards

It’s been a fascinating month for Glenn Beck and his media empire. It’s not often you call the President of the US a racist; watch over thirty sponsors abort your TV show at Fox News yet still command the top of the cable ratings, with a mind-numbing, hour-long carnival act that has become an embarrassment, even by FNC standards.

There’s no doubt Beck’s over-the-top act is wildly popular; his nationally-syndicated radio show is among the top 10, according to Talkers magazine, and he manages to sell millions of books. Last week he achieved the notable status of beating Bill O’Reilly in the ratings, helped by an interview of Rush Limbaugh, but nevertheless impressive. His salary hovers near the $25-$30 million range. There’s a lot of money in schlock and awe, and Beck has taken full advantage in that arena, but at what point does the carnival act become a hindrance for a network trying to stave off an image as nothing more than a 24/7 GOP mouth machine?

As stated last week in this space, even as they nudged Beck to take an unscheduled week of vacation to try to diffuse the “racist/Obama” affair, despite some industry chatter, no way was FNC ever even mildly considering dumping Beck. He would have been hired in a second by another network. While his “act” is a hit with his core viewers, advertisers are wary of his polarizing histrionics and pulled their spots. True, many simply placed their ads elsewhere on the Fox schedule, but the ensuing storyline of corporations distancing themselves from Beck hit home in Fox’s Manhattan headquarters.

While Fox relishes the commanding dominance it possesses in the evening cable news shows, (Sean Hannity, O’Reilly, Beck, Van Susteren, et al, all beat CNN and MSNBC shows handidly) it is increasingly becoming more sensitive to its ultra-right image and wants desperately to be taken seriously by more mainstream media outlets and viewers alike.

In that sense, Beck’s nightly display of various staged cries, wimpering, pandering monologues, and outlandish acts of casually labeling the nation’s first Black president a racist, doesn’t help the Fox cause.

While CNN and more to the point, MSNBC, can be legitimately regarded as “left-leaning” cablers, they don’t give the outward appearence of utilizing someone of the likes of Beck. Keith Olbermann comes close, but as many times as the Countdown host derided George W. Bush, “racist” doesn’t come to mind.

For now, Beck’s TV show will continue to broadcast the nightly barrage of unexpected kibbles and bits. And the ratings are solid and spectacular. But Fox can’t have it both ways. Either they really want to be taken seriously, (at least that’s what they’re saying) or will continue to condone the “seeking-the-lowest common denominator”-mantra in Beck. Acknowledged, he’s one fine entertainer, but at what cost?